My husband Tim and I live in a small piece of Los Angeles that juts into Culver City. We can vote for L.A. mayor, while living within the postal limits of trendy Culver City—the best of both worlds! He's a retired radio engineer. I am a freelance library consultant and teach library science. Our frequent partner-in-crime is Karen, my best friend since college.

Thursday, August 22, 2013

I had a 9:30AM meeting
this morning in Sacramento, so I got up at 3AM to catch the 6:15AM flight out
of LAX, just 8 miles from our house. Normally, on day trips like this, I drive myself
and park at the airport, but Tim insisted on taking me (I think he thinks dropping
and picking me up at the airport is romantic). I went through security and was
at the gate by 5:20AM. Forty minutes later a voice came over the loud speaker,
saying there were maintenance problems with the plane; therefore, our flight
was being delayed indefinitely. Fifteen minutes later, exactly when we were supposed to be taking off, the voice returned to say our flight had been canceled altogether.

Passengers had two
options: they could use their tickets to board the 9AM flight to Sacramento or
take the 8:30AM flight to Oakland (huh?). Since the 9AM flight wouldn’t get me
to my meeting till 11AM—well after it had already started—I opted to go home. I
called Tim.

“My flight’s been
canceled. Can you come and get me?” I asked.

“Oh oh,” he sheepishly replied. “I’m already at work.” He was, after all, wide awake, so why not
get an early start on the day? I decided to grab a cab.

But there were no taxis to
be had at 6:30 on a Thursday morning. Apparently cabs don’t start lining up
until 7Am-ish when flights start arriving. My only hope was to take the #6
Culver City bus that travels down Sepulveda Blvd., two blocks from our house. I
headed toward Sepulveda.

Unlike most airports, LAX
is located in the heart of a residential/ business area. In fact, the northernmost
runway starts at Sepulveda, on which thousands of cars traverse every day. If you’ve ever flown into LAX, you've no doubt thought your plane was going
to land on those very cars. We regularly drive this part of Sepulveda to get
to our favorite taco joint on the other side of LAX, but I’ve never walked along this stretch.
What a thrill when a gigantic Qantas airbus flew right over my head before
landing on the north runway!

It’s been several years
since I rode the bus and so had no idea how much the fare was. Having spent my
last three dollar bills on a croissant at the airport, I decided to walk to the
nearest Starbuck’s to break a twenty. Luckily, the bus stopped right there.

Getting on, I asked the
bus driver how much the fare was. He looked at me and whispered, “Thirty-five
cents.”

“$1.35?” I asked.

“No,” he whispered again.
“Just thirty-five cents.”

And that’s when I noticed the sign saying that seniors get to ride for 35 cents. I didn’t complain, even though I
certainly don’t consider myself a senior citizen . . . at least, not yet.

The ride took about 25
minutes. I was the only one who looked like she was dressed for a business
meeting. Everyone else looked ready to tackle real work. The woman who got off
the bus with me complemented my dress. I wanted to explain about LAX,
but just thanked her instead. I then walked the two blocks to our house.

When I got home, the
answering machine was beeping. It was Southwest letting me know that my flight had
been canceled.

Monday, August 19, 2013

One of the biggest
surprises at the Star Trek (ST) convention Karen and I attended last
February was
when Patrick Stewart announced that he and acting buddy, Ian McKellan, were
going to perform together in a play “not too far from here.” We were hoping
they’d be in L.A. or at the Old Globe in San Diego, but instead the play is
being staged—this month only—at the Berkeley Rep in northern California. Despite
my well-documented fear of flying,
Karen and I hopped on a plane yesterday morning to attend a matinee performance of
Harold Pinter’s four-person play No Man’s Land, starring Sirs Patrick and Ian as well as Billy Crudup and Shuler
Hensley.

Perhaps best known for
their roles in ST (Patrick), The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies (Ian), and the X-Men
trilogy (both), Stewart and McKellan were, of course, distinguished
Shakespearean actors long before their more recent careers in blockbuster films. McKellan, in particular, is considered one of the greatest
actors alive and has been nominated twice for an Oscar. Although we’ve
seen Patrick perform on stage many times—including his tour-de-force one-person show The Christmas Carol—I had only seen
McKellan once, playing a minor role in The
Cherry Orchard at UCLA a few years ago. Karen and I were excited to see
both of them on the same stage.

We arrived in Oakland by
10:30AM in hopes of strolling through UC Berkeley’s renowned Botanical Garden; but by the time we took the
shuttle to the BART station, and then the BART to Berkeley, we barely had time
for lunch before the 2PM show. We were in our seats by 1:30PM. Coincidentally,
the two women sitting next to us were also from L.A., proving once again that the worldis very small.

“Are you here to see
Patrick?” I asked the women, suspecting that they, too, were Trekkies.

“Yes,” one of them confessed.
“What are the odds that we’d be sitting next to the only other Trekkies in the
audience!”

“Oh, we’re not the only Trekkies here,” I joked, looking around. “I think we’re all just on our best
behavior because it's the Berkeley Rep!”

Indeed, Karen noticed a
sign in the lobby admonishing that “should they be available for autographs,
[the cast] will only sign material related to No Man’s Land.” In other words, no signing Star Trek photos, copies of The
Hobbit or X-Men comicbooks!

Harold Pinter, whose work I haven’t read or even seen since college, can be a hard nut to
crack, so it was no wonder we left the theater with more questions than when we
went in. Still, the play was highly entertaining and extremely well acted.
Patrick was especially good in the second act during a long—and hilarious—monologue
about his (real? imagined?) youthful sexual exploits. Crudup and Hensley were
also very good, though they played supporting roles to the main actors. The
true marvel, however, was Ian McKellan, who completely embodied his character:
an old down-on-his-luck poet who is trying to ingratiate himself to his former
rival, Patrick. As much as we love Patrick Stewart, Karen and I both agreed
that Ian McKellan was absolutely amazing. We are so glad we got to see him perform.

From Berkeley, the play is
traveling to NYC, where all four actors will perform it on Broadway, starting
October 31.

Monday, August 12, 2013

I’m still recovering from
this past weekend’s D23 Expo, the three-day fanfest
where all things Disney are promoted, passionately debated, and sold. Like I
wrote two years ago, the
last Expo experience was far from ideal. And yet, Tim and I got up at the
crack of dawn, Friday and Saturday, to schlep out to Anaheim and stand on line
with thousands of other fans. Exhausted, we decided to stay home on Sunday.

Although not as wacky as Comic-Con, some fans do

dress as their favorite Disney characters

A big part of Expo is
learning about new and upcoming Disney projects. Each day we waited more than
two hours to see clips and performers from Disney’s slate of animated and live
action movies due to be released over the next three years. Celebrity
presenters included Bill Hader, the
voice of various characters in three upcoming animated films (so this is why he left Saturday Night Live!), Tom Hiddleston (cue
the screams!) and Christina Hendricks, both lending their voices to characters in the new Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy DVD, Dane Cook, the lead voice of Planes, Natalie Portman, Sir Anthony Hopkins, and Tom
Hiddleston (again), all starring in the Thor sequel being released this November, Chris Evans, without his Captain America costume, a very funny Ty Burrell (Tim’s favorite),
talking about Muppets Most Wanted due out next spring, and Jason Schwartzman and
B.J. Novak, who play the famous songwriting Sherman brothers in Saving Mr. Banks, a dramatization of the making of Mary Poppins. Schwartzman, who has
a very good singing voice, by the way, and Novak were joined by the real
Richard Sherman to sing “Let’s Go Fly a Kite.” The audience, of
course, went wild and, without invitation, sang along.

We were not-so-secretly
hoping Tom Hanks, who plays Walt Disney in Saving
Mr. Banks, would appear, and were holding our breath in anticipation of
George Clooney, who’s been cast in next year’s strangely mysterious live action
movie Tomorrowland. Instead, we got Angelina Jolie, who stars as the
title character in Maleficent, an origins story about Sleeping Beauty’s nemesis
and my all-time favorite villainess (evil but beautiful!). Jolie looked thin but fit and was extremely
gracious, relaying her enthusiasm for the project as well as the character. In
fact, everyone appearing on stage proclaimed his/her life-long love of Disney,
prompting Tim to whisper a pointed comment about “drinking the Kool-Aid.”Hmmm . . .

Me sporting Maleficent head-gear

The real deal

For me, one of the best
things about Expo is meeting like-minded people who love the same things I do. It’s
amazing how quickly one can make new friends while standing on line
for two hours. Among the more interesting folks we met: a member of
the Disneyana fan club,
who lives here but frequently flies to Orlando to attend Walt Disney World
events; a British podcaster, who plans his family’s trips to the U.S. around
Expo dates; and an 18-year-old, who knows everything about every Disney ride
ever created. I felt completely at home.

Thursday, August 01, 2013

When I was a young woman,
I’d hop in my car and go for a long drive at the drop of a hat. Not so much now. I’ve become a real homebody: with my work, gardens and favorite TV shows, it’s
been several years since I’ve left the house for more than just a few days.

Recently, I either read an
article in the AARP Magazine or saw
something on the Today Show about
traveling and how it can actually generate new brain cells and improve one’s memory—I am, after all, turning 60 at the end of the year. So I decided
to take a weeklong car trip, starting in the Central Coast and then heading north
to Monterey and San José before stopping in Fresno, where I had scheduled a workshop. I had various job-related meetingsalong the way and also saw friends, making the week a nice mix of work and pleasure.

Here’s what I learned (in
no particular geographic order):

It’s almost impossible to
avoid traffic in California. No surprise that it took me nearly two hours to drive out of Los
Angeles, but I was shocked, as well as exasperated, when it took three
hours to drive from Monterey to San José, Sunday afternoon—a ride that
should have taken a little over an hour. As I found out two days later, it can also take three hours to get
from Gilroy to Fresno via Highway 152 if there are enough slow-moving trucks
ahead of you. Maybe I shouldn't have spent the entire afternoon at the Gilroy Premium Outlets (?).

We’ve always loved
antiquing in Cayucos, a cute little beach town north of Morro Bay. Now there’s another reason to stop there: the Brown Butter Cookie Company, an
unassuming storefront that hides a bevy of activity inside. The friendly staff
offer newcomers an array of samples as soon as they walk in the door. The
cookies are impossible to resist, made with natural ingredients and a touch of
sea salt. They ain’t cheap, but boy are they tasty! I bought two dozen, plus a
bag of lemon cookies. YUMMY!

Moss Landing, a
small town north of Monterey, hosts a highly anticipated flea market, once
a year, that draws hundreds, if not thousands, of bargain-hunters. Lots of
great items; but get there early or you may have to park a mile away.
Interestingly, Moss Landing is also home to several well-known local
restaurants. But, again, plan to eat early or you may have to wait forever for a
table, like we did.

Downtown San José is a fun
place to stay: historic buildings, the light rail, a new mini-Safeway market, and a
movie theater across the street from my hotel. While taking my morning walk, I
discovered the San José Museum of Art and a new exhibit, called “Pilgrimage,”
by photographer Annie Leibovitz. The exhibit is absolutely wonderful: digital images of private artifacts that once
belonged to an eclectic assortment of iconic figures (e.g., Abraham Lincoln’s
hat and gloves, Virginia Woolf’s room, the television that Elvis Presley
famously shot, a bullet hole made by Annie Oakley, Freud’s couch, etc.). From
here, the exhibit moves to the Columbia Museum of Art in October and finally the
Lincoln Presidential Library next year.

You can take the librarian
out of the library, but not the library out of the librarian. So, of course, I
visited many libraries—old and new—on my trip. My favorites were the Lompoc Carnegie library,
local historical landmark no. 1 and currently the Lompoc museum, and the
Pacific Grove library,
where I helped administer a grant, last year, to create a much-needed teen area.

The former Lompoc Carnegie Library

Pacific Grove library's teen area

On a whim, I decided to
take the beautiful but (oh so) harrowing two-lane Highway 1 from
Cayucos to Monterey. I thought I saw my car smile when we started to ascend the
notoriously winding road north. I, on the other hand, was terrified. As
magnificent as the scenery was, it’s hard to enjoy the view when you’re constantly worrying about accidentally driving off the edge of the continent! I didn’t dare stop to
take pictures for fear of not wanting to get back into the car again.

I did, however, take lots
of photos of Lompoc’s amazing murals, which the L.A. Times once called “an outdoor art gallery.”Sprinkled throughout Lompoc, the best murals are those that decorate the walls
of older buildings on the town’s south end. Themes range from historic Central
Coast scenes to artistic military tributes. Here are just a few of the many murals I saw in Lompoc (click on images to enlarge):